


Over The Borderline

by Estirose



Category: Power Rangers Time Force
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-11
Updated: 2013-08-11
Packaged: 2017-12-23 02:24:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/920881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One is weak, one is strong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Over The Borderline

1\. Friends

He dreams of her, sometimes.

In his dreams, he is stronger than he is. He isn't the team's geek, the team's technician, the funny green-haired alien who can't lie. Someone for her and the rest of his team to take care of.

He dreams of having her strength, and the confidence to use it. She is so graceful, so understanding of her strength in ways that he can't imagine. He knows she's been loved, her abilities chosen so that she'd be strong in other ways. She isn't like him, she isn't a bumbler.

Trip is glad that she thinks of him only as a friend. He can't bear to let her know he loves her, or thinks he does. He can only take so much teasing. It helps that Xybrians are reputed to be such poor liars; unless she or somebody else asks, she'll never know.

It's best that she doesn't know.

2\. Dare

"So, what's it called again?" Trip asked. He wasn't sure he liked the name and what it implied.

"Truth or Dare," Wes explained. "I'm surprised it didn't survive to the thirtieth century; it's pretty simple. We choose someone to start first, they choose another person. That person either has to tell the truth, or the other person can dare them to do something."

"Hey, Trip, you'd win easily," Katie pointed out.

Trip blushed. "Um..." While he was glad that Katie had so much confidence in him, he knew that if someone asked him the right question, he'd be toast. Xybrians didn't lie much, but he also didn't volunteer things that he didn't want to talk about. It was hard to lie about something you weren't asked.

"Are you blushing?" she asked lightly. She meant it as a teammate, an officer, and a friend, but if she didn't stop looking at him, he really would start blushing where everybody could see it.

"Um... let's play!" he said, sitting down. He was getting better at avoiding answers.

3\. Secrets

Trip wasn't all that great a liar. Everything she learned said that Xybrians couldn't lie, having been born into a world where everybody could read thoughts. But she got the impression as she watched him that Xybrians had their secrets, too, it was just that everybody knew them anyway on his home world, and the Xybrians just assumed the rest of the universe was the same way.

It was the way that Trip blushed and stammered that made her wonder what secret he was keeping up there. She could hardly ask him what it was, because she didn't want to hurt him, distress him, or violate a Xybrian taboo. He'd taken many more dares than she'd expected him to in the game earlier that evening, and she had to wonder why.

And after that, he'd retreated to his tools and his electronics, and was studiously avoiding talking to anybody. He was rattled, and he was showing it, and she wished she could go and comfort him.

If she only knew how...

4\. Youth

"How old is Trip?" Wes asked Katie as the two of them put together the evening meal. It was a bit more spare than either of them would have liked, but then again, the workload, and therefore the money, had been a bit scarcer than unsual.

Katie paused to think. "About twenty," she said. "Xybrians have about the same lifespan as humans, maybe a little bit longer, so... yeah, about twenty."

"I thought so," Wes said. "You noticed something's bothering him lately?" He looked over to where Trip was talking to Circuit.

"I noticed... I just don't know where to start asking him," she said honestly. "Even having worked with him, I don't know a whole lot about Xybrians."

"He's been stammering a lot," Wes said thoughtfully. "I wondered... maybe he's falling in love?"

Katie looked thoughtful. Trip? In love? And, as she thought about it, probably for the first time, too. "Maybe he is."

As she watched him animatedly talk to Circuit, she started to plan.

5\. Patience

"Hi, Trip," Katie said, sitting down beside him. Trip offered her a shy smile, the same awkward one he'd been giving her all week.

"Hi, Katie." He tapped something on the keyboard, calling some data up. Katie was no technician; she didn't understand what he was doing, and didn't pretend to understand.

"What are you doing?" she asked. She wanted to ease him into the conversation, if she could. Despite his protest that he didn't read minds or use his powers unless he needed to, she had to confess it unnerved her that he could probably read her thoughts in a second, and know what she was aiming to ask him.

He probably would think she was interfereing, like her brother had. Was it her fault that she wanted to make things better?

She felt a pang of homesickness as she waited for him to answer.

"Um. Just... working on the database," he said, hesitantly answering her question, his response fast, as if he wanted to evade something. Maybe he knew that she thought he was in love, and he didn't want to feel stupid.

Of course, since he was an alien, all bets were off, though she was willing to guess that he was a lot like human guys in some ways.

"Oh," she said. "Is there... anything I can do?" she asked. What she really wanted to ask about was who he was in love with, but it was far too soon. Trip might open up about it, he might not, but if she moved at the wrong moment, he might shut up completely.

"Not really," Trip said, avoiding looking at her. "Um. Circuit and I can handle it."

"If you're sure..."

"I'm sure," he said, typing something in. "But thanks, Katie."

She smiled at him, and got up. The invitation was out there. All she had to do was wait.

6\. Routine

It was like a routine.

She'd smile at him, he'd shrink back. He'd make excuses to be anywhere but there. He didn't seem to be upset at her, but he was... avoiding her, and Katie didn't like that. Trip was her friend, her teammate, and whatever she'd done, she'd fix.

Maybe he'd read her mind, though he'd promised Lucas that he wouldn't until he had to. Maybe he thought that she was pushing him... wanted to push him towards love. Or maybe he saw that she was curious.

How did one get a Xybrian who didn't want to talk to open up?

She swore that she'd break the routine.

7\. Smile

She was smiling at him. It was the smile that she gave him when she was feeling sympathetic, wanted to be a shoulder to cry on, or just someone to talk to.

But how could he do that when she was the one he wanted to talk about? He didn't want to seem weak to her, didn't want to be the one that depended on her all the time.

And yet she was so open, just like a Xybrian in some ways. Sure, his parents might not like her for a daughter in law - his parents probably wouldn't approve of any non-Xybrian - but she reminded him of one so heavily sometimes that it made his heart ache for home.

She reminded him of his grandfather, strangely enough, the juxtoposition of human and Xybrian. His heart clenched as he remembered the man.

Maybe he should break tradition. Love Katie.

He didn't have the strength.

8\. Game

Trip watched Wes and Jen talk. The two seemed made for each other, but their feelings, their experiences, everything they were, seemed to block their ability to admit things to each other.

At least they had a chance. The two of them were strong fighters, strong people.

Katie was strong. He knew that if he asked her, asked her out, she'd not run from him. She might humor him, just because he was her teammate, but she wouldn't play with him. Love would not be a game to her. She'd sit him down and she'd talk to him, and she'd let him down gently.

He opened his mouth, looked at Katie, and shut it again. Maybe not right that moment.

9\. Yield

"Trip? What's wrong?"

She had to do something about it. Otherwise, he'd spend the rest of their time in 2001 avoiding her.

"Nnnnothing," Trip stammered.

"Yes, there is," Katie said firmly. "Come on, Trip. You can tell me."

"Um." He was descending into avoid mode again. She had to snap him out of it. It wasn't healthy.

"Trip," she said, just as firmly. "There's something bothering you, and has been for the last two weeks."

Her teammate ducked his head. It was what he did when he was embarassed, or just didn't want to answer questions. His way of hiding from the world.

"Trip," she said warningly.

He straightened up. "Um. Katie," he paused, as if fighting to get the words out. "Have you ever been in love?"

10\. Green-eyed Monster

He shut his mouth. He couldn't believe he'd said that. She, in turn, was staring at him like she couldn't believe what he'd just said.

She probably had been in love. How could someone not love Katie?

He promised himself not to react if she had. Make it seem cool, seem normal, seem like it was not the end of the world. They were friends, and teammates, and nothing else should matter. He would not be jealous if she had someone at home. That's what he hoped he'd be, anyway.

"Love?" Katie asked, still working through his question. "No. Why?"

He was unable to answer as his heart leaped in joy.

11\. Dependence

"Why do you want to know?" Katie asked, as their Xybrian teammate stammered and avoided the answer.

Lucas looked at Trip with some detachment. It was as if Trip wanted Katie's approval in some matter... as if he was about to tell her something that she might not approve of. Or maybe Jen wouldn't approve of. Trip was better at asking Katie about things than he was at asking Jen. Like he was dependent on Katie's answers for everything.

Well, not everything, Lucas amended. Trip was a fully capable Time Force officer, after all.

"Um. No reason," Trip said quickly.

"Trip..." Katie paused, looking at their teammate. "Are you in love with somebody?"

12\. Power

Trip wished he'd never gotten on the team, sometimes. Never even left Xybria or his home village of T'loss. This was one of those moments.

It was said, however, that the Power had wisdom beyond mortal comprehension; in other words, he was there for a reason, though he doubted it was to grow closer to Katie, to fall in love with her. He was needed here, somehow, in this strange world among these even stranger people who didn't know an alien when they saw one.

But Katie knew. Katie had the Power, too. Maybe she knew?

No, she wouldn't react so well. He knew she wouldn't.

Maybe the Power had made a mistake...

13\. Test

"Trip?" Katie asked. She wondered if rattling him would do any good. At least shaking him.

"It's nothing, Katie," he said quietly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked, I should have known."

"Trip, this isn't Xybria, I don't read minds, what's bothering you?" Katie asked.

He turned half away from her. She wished she could read minds, see if he was testing her answer or something, but she couldn't, and she wished Trip wasn't clamming up on her.

"I... I think... Katie..."

"You're in love, aren't you?" Katie asked, as gently as possible.

Trip nodded.

14\. Knight

"Hi, guys," Wes said, interrupting the moment.

Trip blushed and turned away; he'd never get around to telling Katie at this rate! Of course, he was hardly a knight in shining armor, or anything she'd probably prefer, but he'd had his chance, and he'd blown it.

"Hi, Wes," Katie said. "Could I talk to you for a moment?"

Wes looked surprised, but followed. Trip inwardly cringed. Either she was really in love with Wes, the way Jen was... or she was going to have him talk to Trip for her. Was the entire team going to know that he was in love? Jen, too?

Trip watched Katie talk to Wes, both of them stealing glances at him. The last thing he wanted was a big production; his own people were not this dramatic.

Wes would probably make him look like a knight in shining armor, and he'd hate it. He liked being appreciated, but he didn't like making waves, not like that.

"Hey, Trip," Wes said, confirming his fears. "Want to take a walk?"

 

15\. Gift

Trip looked startled. "Um, sure," he said, jamming his bucket hat tighter on his head.

"C'mon," Wes said, turning back towards the stairs and hoping Trip followed. Katie had told him, quickly, that she couldn't get anything coherent out of Trip, and was hoping that he could. He was popular with the girls, or at least he had been, when he'd run in those circles. Maybe he could gift Trip with some good advice, at least.

He got to the ground floor, passing Jen, who was doing the accounts while waiting for someone to call or walk in. "Going out," he said simply, letting his team leader know where he was. Jen looked surprised, but seemed too involved with the numbers to talk at the moment. Once they were outside, he turned to Trip.

"So, you're in love?"

Trip nodded.

"With?" Wes probed.

"Um..."

"Trip," Wes said patiently, "I'm not going to laugh."

Trip turned away.

"It can't be that bad," Wes wheedled. "I mean, you're not in love with Nadira or anything like that?"

He was bluffing, hoping for a reaction, and he hoped Trip wasn't reading him.

Shaking his head, Trip looked at the city below. "It's just... I don't want to feel stupid. I don't want Katie to think I'm stupid."

Wes looked at his friend and teammate with new eyes. "You're in love with Katie?"

Everything suddenly made sense as Trip ducked and stepped away.

"You are in love..." he murmured. He smiled. "You're lucky. Katie'll be good for you."

But Trip didn't seem to hear.

16\. Song

There was a song out there, Trip was sure, that described how he was feeling. But the songs of this world and this century didn't stick in his mind, in some ways as utterly inexplicable as the world itself.

But his world's songs weren't much better. Why sing of romance when you didn't even choose your spouse?

That was why he'd left. Who wanted him? He was nothing. His psychic abilities were weak and he didn't do anything particularly useful.

At least on Earth, he was wanted. Even in a world where his people were misunderstood, he felt more free than he'd ever been at home. The most famous author in his village was right - sometimes one had to go against authority to find out who you really were.

But he didn't feel like singing, even if he knew what to sing.

17\. Why?

If Katie looked carefully, she could just see Wes and Trip talking. Or at least Wes was talking. She didn't know if Trip was paying much attention.

Even if Trip were learning to lie, something that he'd never really learned to do in their own time, he'd never learned to lie to her. Avoid questions, yes. Duck, yes. She knew those signs of avoidance in Trip like she did her own brother's.

And he was getting good at avoiding. Avoiding her. Avoiding questions. Too good.

Why was he acting that way? Why was he doing what he was doing?

She looked down. Maybe Wes was asking that very question of Trip, maybe even getting an answer. She felt envy at his ability to connect to Trip sometimes, especially since they had so little in common.

She wished she could grab him, shake him. But that wouldn't go over so well with either Trip or Jen.

So she had no choice but to wait, and to wonder.

18\. Spellbound

"Trip?" Wes asked again, waving a hand in front of his teammate's place. His teammate seemed to be off in some mental world. Just as he was about to call Circuit for advice on dealing with the Xybrian, Trip blinked.

"Oh!" he said. He turned to Wes and gave a sheepish smile.

"I wondered if you were okay," Wes said. "Or if this was some weird Xybrian thing." He wondered if it was some weird Xybrian thing. Even though Trip seemed human a lot of time, there were still some times where his teammate surprised him.

Trip's smile turned into his shyest one. "No," he said. "Just... just..."

"Has to do with Katie?" Wes asked.

His teammate's head moved in what might have been a nod.

"Look, I know girls." He paused amending his statement. "Well, women. Some women. You gotta let them know you care for them. If you say it, it won't be so scary." He prayed that Trip took his advice; it wasn't as if he was succeeding with Jen, himself, but she was a special case.

Trip made a quick head movement again.

"What do you love in Katie? What do you like about her?"

Leaning back, Trip seemed to consider. In fact, he was sitting so still, Wes had to wonder if he was doing some weird Xybrian thing. Maybe that was how Xybrians acted when they were in love.

"I... she..." Trip seemed to trip over his own tongue. "I don't know. It's... she's so warm, and understanding, and strong..." He stared into the distance again.

"And?" Wes asked. "Why has she got you so spellbound?" He paused for a second, remembering their recent adventures. "No pun intended."

Trip looked confused for a moment, seemed to file Wes' statement away as something he couldn't understand, and then tried to proceed. "Because she likes me. I think." He seemed to color a little bit. "Not that she has a reason to, but..."

"Trip," Wes said patiently, hoping he wasn't stepping out of line. "She likes you too."

Trip looked wide-eyed. "She does?"

19\. Helm

I dreamed once that Trip and I and the rest of the team were on a ship. It was off the coast where we lost the time ships, and it was as pleasant as could be.

And I'd dared Trip to steer the thing. He was laughing, not in the self-effacing way that he usually does, but in genuine joy. I've heard him laugh that way sometimes when he's not around.

Sometimes I wish Trip was a little bit more bold. Silly, isn't it, when you consider that he's fearlessly risking his life for the people of this time and ours. But then I remember what he's doing here, and how he's fighting for a species not even his own, and I am glad he's here. He probably won't ever be a good leader, but he is a good person. And I'm glad to be his friend.

As I watch Trip and Wes head inside, I wonder if he's gotten any more confidence. I like it when he laughs.

I want him to laugh again.

20\. Confidence

Trip knew he was staring at Wes, but couldn't help it. "She does?" he asked. Humans were confusing sometimes, all saying one thing and meaning the other. He wasn't sure if Wes meant as a friend, a teammate, or something more personal.

"Yeah," Wes said. "I think she really does. Why don't you ask her out?"

"I... um... she wouldn't..." Trip was sure a coherent sentence was in there someplace.

"Trip..." Wes was sounding exasperated again. "You'll do fine. If you love her, you'll tell her how you feel. She won't reject you, trust me."

"I wish I had your confidence," Trip said.

"Come on, Trip," Wes said, dragging the Xybrian back towards the clock tower. "You'll be fine."

Trip gulped.

21\. Time

You'd think I'd have all the time in the world to figure this out. I wish I did. I've travelled ten centuries into this world's past; into the past of some of my own ancestors.

How would Katie react if she knew I had a little human blood in here? The blood of a human great-great-grandparent, a grandfather whose spouse broke all the rules in loving him?

As Wes tugs me up the stairs, I realize I'm about to do the same. Fall in love with someone not my own kind, somebody who my family wouldn't like. I suspect I won't be talking to my relatives for a very long time.

22\. Album

"Come on, Trip," Wes said, his voice echoing up the stairs. She had a vision of him being hauled reluctantly up, and it brought a smile to her face. If Trip was being led up the stairs, it was because he was sometimes too shy and polite not to do so. Either that, or Wes had talked him into it, and Trip was suddenly having second thoughts.

Katie looked through the photos, the polaroids. All of them being so silly. Trip had such a great smile, a great laugh. There was something about him so wonderful that she hoped that whoever he was in love with appreciated him for who he was.

She wondered if she could take the photos home, for her own album. He teammates were as dear as family, and she never wanted to forget them, no matter what.

Especially Trip, and especially Trip's smile.

Maybe if she asked, they could start a photo album together.

23\. Distraction

Trip was, at the moment, hoping that Ransik would attack, or Jen would suddenly come rushing up with their newest assignments. Anything but telling Katie. Wes might have been wrong. Or tried to make things sound nice. It would be a human thing to do.

But he stepped into the tower, unhindered by Jen or Ransik. He looked over to where Katie was standing, immersed in the polaroids. What was she seeing in them? Did he look too silly? Did he not look silly enough?

"Hey, Katie," Wes said confidently.

Katie looked over at the two of them and smiled. He was acutely aware of her smile, acutely aware of Lucas' look at the three of them before returning to his book.

Trip took a deep breath. No distractions to be had. "Hi, Katie."

24\. Sacrifice

Katie smiled. "Hi, Wes, Trip," she said, hoping that Trip wouldn't flee down the stairs.

"Hey, I think Trip wants to talk to you," Wes said. "I'm going downstairs to help Jen."

Trip looked at Wes, startled, but said nothing. Katie gave him credit for just standing there as Wes left. As the silence stretched out, she smiled at him again. "Wes talked to you, huh?"

"Yeah," Trip said. "Um..."

She just smiled at him. "Let's sit down."

"Um, I have to make dinner," he said, looking downright nervous.

"We could make dinner together," she pointed out.

"Yeah," Trip agreed. He led her over to the small kitchen, trying to figure out what to make out of their meager food supply.

"So, what'd Wes say?" she asked. She was hoping that he'd encourage Trip to say something, anything, that she could use to help him. He, of all of them, had sacrificed so much to come to this time, to a world where nobody knew of his kind, where he was all alone, all in the name of saving his time.

Risking himself years in another world's past.

"Um..." He looked at her. "He said... he said you liked me."

Katie blinked. That was not what she was expecting to hear. As she digested what the Xybrian had said, however, it was... "I liked you?" she echoed.

Trip ducked his head again.

"Wait... I didn't mean it that way!" she said. "Does that mean... you like me?" It suddenly all made sense now. How he was reacting, what he was saying, how he was avoiding her.

Trip managed his shyest smile and ducked his head again.

25\. Quest

"You like me?" she repeated dumbly. "Trip..."

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's just... Xybrians don't marry for love. And they don't marry out of their species."

Katie was still trying to work her mind about it. "Humans do."

"I know," he said, smiling again. "That's what's so wonderful about humans."

"But you don't have a problem?" Katie asked cautiously.

"I like humans," Trip replied. "Besides, it's not like they want me back."

He was staring at some invisible point. Her heart clenched as she realized what Trip had given up, was giving up now, to admit he was in love with her... or at least that he liked her.

Her family would love him, she knew. For the same reasons that she did. Trip apparently didn't have a home to go back to... but she'd find him one. Make him one.

Some people would call it a mission. Some people would call it a quest. Katie called it being a friend... and even more, someday.

26\. Pride

His family wouldn't want him back, he knew. Or at least most of them wouldn't. But then again, with his weak abilities, why would they want him anyway? Sometimes, these mindblind humans were the best companions at all, because they wouldn't judge.

Trip's family wasn't proud of him, he knew. Oh, they had pride in his sister, but he wasn't the star telepath that she was. That's why he had come to Earth, to come to a world like this.

He'd been happy when he'd joined Time Force. Happy when he'd gotten to know his fellow cadets and finally his teammates.

And when Jen had brought him on this mission, not leaving him back in their own century, he prided himself that he'd mattered enough to do so.

He looked over at Katie. No, they wouldn't want him back.

But maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

27\. Take My Hand

"Trip," Katie said slightly hesitantly, "They don't have to want you back... I mean, it's..."

"It's okay," Trip said, one of the many dodges he'd learned since leaving his home village. "I think..." He paused. There were too many people in this room; what if Wes or Lucas heard? He'd always limited himself to speech among humans, hiding his thoughts.

But then again, nobody here could read his thoughts.

"Thinks what?"

Trip took her hand, hoping against hope that he could do this. /They don't want me back, anyway. Not me./

Her eyes widened. "Trip..."

28\. Duty

Trip knew he'd gone too far, as usual. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

If there was any way to mess things up, he'd manage it. He was a walking disaster, sometimes. Murphy's law, they called it in this century.

"It's okay," Katie said, a little too quickly for Trip's tastes.

"No, it's my fault, I should have asked."

"Trip, it's not that..."

"I'm sorry..." he said, the pan he was using clattering down on the counter as he ran off. He knew he had kitchen duty today, but maybe Jen would forgive him once for not doing it, or maybe he could talk to Katie later about switching shifts. He owed her that at least.

Maybe after this was over he should go back to Xybria, back to his village, where there were no secrets. Marry whoever his family wanted him to marry. Be the neglected, no-talent little brother.

But he had a duty to this place, and he wasn't going to neglect it. Even if Katie hated him.

29\. Scars

"Trip!" Katie dropped her own stuff on the counter, and chased after Trip. "Wait!" She was aware she sounded vaguely like some kind of love-struck cliche, but there was nothing to do about it, especially if Trip was having one of his lack-of-self-confidence moments.

She'd known Trip ever since they were cadets at the Academy together. Trip must have been the shyest cadet she'd ever known, afraid of speaking up in case he said something wrong.

It probably didn't help, Katie thought, that he must have been fairly new to dealing with non-Xybrians. She'd wondered why he'd come to Earth, sometimes; she got the impression that he'd never been totally straight about it.

In some ways, Trip's scars were the worst of any of them. All of them were wounded to some extent, either due to their travels in time or something that happened before. But something had to have happened to make him leave his home, travel so far away.

Travel to this time.

"Trip!" she called again.

He didn't seem to hear.

Something was going to have to be done about Trip's scars.

30\. Dawn

Trip clattered down the stairs for the second time that day, this time in blind panic. Jen was going to be wondering what was going on with her Green Ranger soon, but at the moment Trip didn't care what she thought. What anyone thought.

He needed to get away from there. To calm down. Things would be better when he stopped and was able to think. He landed on the ground floor and ran towards the door. "Trip!" Jen called.

"I'll be back, Jen, I promise!" he called as he bolted out the door. The last thing he needed was his commanding officer chasing him, demanding to know what was going on. It was between him and Katie, and when he calmed down, he'd go back and apologize to Katie. Make everything good again. Well, maybe not his love life, but that was a small sacrifice to make. Katie deserved better than somebody who couldn't even respect her privacy.

He swore, once they got back, that he'd find her that person. He sat down against the clocktower wall, catching his breath. It made him feel better, that he'd make her happy that way. Have someone be what he could not.

Trip thought of the human saying, "It's always the darkest before dawn". He'd just made things dark for Katie, but he'd make her happy again. Make the dawn shine for her.

Once he calmed down. Once she'd calmed down.

He stared at the trees.

31\. Beautiful

"Katie, what the hell is going on?" Jen asked as Katie reached the ground floor.

"Um," Katie said, trying to reconcile explaining things to her commanding officer while wanting to go comfort Trip after he ran screaming in terror. "Wes can explain."

Because she really didn't need this right now. Trip needed to see the beauty that was within him, and it wouldn't happen if Jen insisted on going with her, wanting to know what had happened to two of her officers.

"*You* can explain," Jen said pointedly. Katie briefly wondered if her commanding officer was avoiding their twenty-first century teammate *again*.

"Trip... um...." She was sure she was usually more coherent than this. "I don't know. I think he accidentally violated some Xybrian taboo or something, and assumed I'd take offense." She hoped that the explanation would satisfy Jen. "I just want to assure him it's all right."

Jen seemed to consider this, and Katie held her breath. Trip needed this discussed *now*, fixed *now*.

"Right," Jen echoed finally, with a look that indicated she'd rather not have her teammates run up and down the stairs all day.

Katie ran out the door. It was a beautiful day.

Now to find Trip, who was beautiful as well.

32\. Color

The trouble with finding Trip, Katie decided, was the color of his hair. He could blend with the foliage if he wasn't careful.

She'd never thought of his hair that way before; she'd never even really thought of it, past the first meeting. She'd seen people with much weirder hair, both in her century and this one.

She wondered briefly what color part-Xybrian, part-human kids had naturally. Of course, in her time it was up to the parents (and Katie could well imagine a bunch of non-asian green-haired kids running about), but she still had to wonder.

Katie paused. Did color really matter?

Apparently to her, it did.

She continued looking around, aware of the futility of calling out. If she did, he'd spook and she'd lose him.

Rounding the corner, she looked at the wall... and found him.

33\. Reaction

"Trip?"

Trip peeked up as Katie settled down beside him, almost touching him skin-to-skin. How badly had he hurt her, that she wasn't willing to touch him?

She was smiling, but that could have meant anything. Anything at all.

He was afraid, he realized. Afraid of her reaction. But, in a way, best to get it over now. "I'm sorry," he bleated.

"Sorry?" Katie asked, her tone incredulous.

"Yeah, sorry," he said, repeating himself. If he said it enough times, they both might believe it.

"Trip, *look at me*."

Trip involuntarily looked up. He tried to steel himself for whatever was coming.

"Did I break a taboo or something?" she asked. "Because I didn't mean to."

Trip felt the sudden, insane urge to laugh. *Katie* thought she'd broken a taboo?

"No... it's just... it's just...." Trip tried to force the words to come out of his mouth, impart his own shame.

"What?" Katie asked, obviously humoring him.

"I broke my own promise to myself. I forgot humans don't like to be telepathically contacted. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...."

"Trip!" Katie exclaimed. "It's okay. I wasn't upset at all. Just startled. You're the first telepath I've ever known."

Trip blinked. "So you're...."

"I'm fine, Trip. No bruises, no broken bones, no scarred mind." She smiled at him. "Don't worry about me."

She took his hand. "See? Fine."

Trip stared.

34\. Fight

It had been like all the fight had gone out of him.

Katie had been glad to see Trip seem to come to his senses. The last thing she and the others needed was a bout of shyness and insecurity about his own abilities. She knew how important confidence was in the fight against Ransik.

"Let's go in... and explain things to Jen," she said, getting up and holding out her hand.

Trip, somewhat surprisingly, took it. Katie was relieved; it meant that Trip wasn't going to go into a self-pity session, which meant that the day might turn out normal.

No, not normal, she realized. Not after today. Not after all that had been said- or not said - today.

Trip looked in the general direction of the office, no doubt trying to figure out what he was going to say to Jen.

"I'll explain things," she said, and relief appeared on his face.

35\. Dream

All she'd had to say was, "It's all right, we got it figured out," to Jen, and the other woman had nodded and left them alone.

"See?" she asked Trip.

He merely nodded as they headed up the stairs.

"Trip," she said on the way up, "Do Xybrians dream?"

"Yes," he said, looking at her wide-eyed. "Why wouldn't we?" He looked at the stairway, as if he doubted it would ever end. "Sometimes we dream other peoples' dreams...."

"You do?" Katie asked. "Trip... do you dream our dreams?"

He shook his head. "Sometimes," he admitted. "I mean, I'm not a very powerful telepath, but you guys... this world... nobody here has any shields."

"I didn't think Xybrians did, either," Katie said, "At least from what I read."

Trip gave her a small smile. "We don't, at least much, but it's accepted on Xybria. Expected. But when I came to Earth, I installed a shield in my room, so I wouldn't dream like that."

"Does it make you feel lonely?" Katie asked.

Trip smiled a little more, but there was a sheepish element to that smile. "Sometimes," he admitted. "But on Earth, everybody has a right to their own dreams."

"Maybe, sometimes, we want to share them," Katie said.

Trip responded by smiling wider, the touch of sheepishness gone. "Thanks, Katie."

"You're welcome," she murmured. Maybe they had a future together. A future where Trip would be finally accepted.

She hoped so.

36\. Worst Case Scenario

"See?" Katie said as the two of them wandered up into the top of the clocktower. "It could have been far worse."

Trip nodded, mouth opening as if to say something, but thinking better of it.

"Trip?" Katie asked. "What were you going to say?"

"It's nothing," Trip answered quickly. One step forward, two steps back.

"Trip... let's not do this again, please?" Katie pleaded, looking at her green-haired teammate.

"It's just... it's just... do you know what you're getting into?" Trip blurted out.

Katie looked at him. Looked at him hard. "No," she said. "But I know I can take it. Besides, what's the adventure in knowing everything?"

"The worst case scenario?" Trip asked. "Being around people who will never accept you, no matter what?"

She heard the horror in Trip's voice. Known he'd experienced it.

"So let's not let it get that way," she said firmly.

37\. Mirror

"Katie..." Trip said hesitantly. "If we get involved... get together... my family won't like it. Or you." His voice was soft. No use scaring Lucas or Wes with the truth about his people and family.

"It's okay," Katie said soothingly, drawing him to the couch. "Who said we had to care about your family anyway?"

Trip sighed. Human families seemed to be far different from Xybrian ones; he doubted she'd understand how little chance he had of cutting himself from his family completely. Yes, he'd be a family black sheep, as humans here put it, but he'd always remain teathered. His family couldn't help but keep track, and there was always the hope that the family outcast's kids would turn out better than their outcast parent. "Xybrian families aren't like that," he said, not wanting to explain. "No matter how far away we get, we're still family."

"It's funny," Katie said, "that it's like that in my family too. But my family - my parents - would accept you, just for who you are. They wouldn't care at all what planet you came from, if we were in love."

Trip thought of how carefree and loving and forgiving Katie was, and guessed that it was love, more than anything else, that had made her the person he'd fallen for. She was so lucky to have a family like hers, a mirror of his own, but his family reflected in love.

Not that his family didn't love him too in their own way, he reflected, but Katie's... Katie's would be the one he wished he had.

38\. Darkness

"You aren't telling me everything," Katie said. "Is it really that bad?"

She wanted to know. She wanted to cushion Trip from what he'd been through. True, he was a Ranger, tough, willing to fight, but family was one of the toughest things to deal with.

Trip was ducking his head again. "Xybrian families... Xybrian parents and children... we have bonds that are hard to break. You have to do something really bad to have your family break them completely." He shuddered, and Katie didn't ask what that something was. He'd either tell her some day, or he wouldn't. "It's like being plunged into darkness, when someone cuts you out."

"Well, then, let's not let them cut you out," Katie said. "You can't help who you fall in love with."

"They won't see it that way," Trip said, sounding miserable.

39\. Closer

"So what?" Katie asked. "You can form new bonds, can't you?"

"New... bonds?" Trip said, looking at her. "With who?"

"My family," Katie told him.

Trip couldn't help but stare. Form a bond with a non-telepath? Did she have any telepaths in her family, he wondered.

But her family was close, it sounded like. Closer, and in ways far better than his had ever been.

No, they wouldn't be telepaths, no, it wouldn't be as close. But Trip had a sense that they'd be there for him. He could break with his family. He could be who he wanted to be and his new family would accept him.

Was that what he really wanted? To be with people who were mindblind, accept a family that was that way, in lieu of his own?

Looking at Katie, there could be only one decision, one choice.

Yes.

40\. Home

Katie could see Trip's acceptance written all over his face. She was relieved that he'd made his choice. Knowing Trip, once he made up his mind, it was likely made up for good.

And when they returned back to their own century, Katie would make sure he didn't regret his choice. Sure, there would be rough spots - his family's rejection, it sounded like, among them. But they'd make it through.

Katie drew Trip close. They'd make it through the twenty-first century. They'd become closer. Bond in the human way. Bond in the Xybrian way, if needed.

And then they would go home. To her home. Their home.

-Their home.-

She gave Trip a gentle hug.

End


End file.
